Editor's note: The following is one of many World War II stories told to MLive Grand Rapids Press by some of the last living veterans of that conflict in West Michigan. We're chronicling their tales under our "Michigan Honors" series, which seeks to tell their stories and pay tribute to the men and women who worked and fought during those battles.

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, MI – If you were a U.S. serviceman heading back to the state from Europe after World War II there’s a chance you ate a meal prepared by Harvey Heerspink.

The 88-year-old Georgetown Township man spent two and a half years as a corporal in the Army Air Corps stationed in the north Atlantic’s Azores Islands, about 850 miles west of Portugal.

During World War II, the islands were a routine staging point for U.S. troops heading in and out of the war in Europe, largely because aircraft of the day couldn’t make it across the Atlantic without a refueling stop.

Heerspink was stationed at the 1391st Army Air Force Base and part of the Army’s Air Transport Command which ferried troops and provided basic comforts like food to returning troops. He remembers one hungry soldier in particular who said he basically hadn’t seen an egg in a couple of years.

“He said he wanted a dozen fried eggs so we gave them to him,” Heerspink said. “We gave them whatever they wanted. He put ketchup all over them.”

Heerspink didn’t see combat, but added he wasn’t shielded from the horrors of war.

“I remember one military plane took off and very vividly I remember losing contact with them,” Heerspink said. “The next day some of the natives came down from the mountains saying they had seen a big flash like lightning. We went up there and found they’d crashed into the side of the mountain.

“For the most part we did a pretty good job of keeping the troops safe,” he added. “Someone had to take care of the needs of all those soldiers. It was no easy task.”

Heerspink recalls his service fondly, though the steady flow of troops returning home after the war kept his unit busy. His was just one of several bases operating in the Azores working to get troops home.

“After the war was over in Europe we had transport planes, C-54s, landing every 10 minutes and they were loaded,” Heerspink said. “It was a main stopping point for troops heading back to the states after the war. At that time we couldn’t fly planes across the Atlantic without a refueling stop.”

Heerspink said he’s nostalgic for the patriotic days of the war. He accepts that conflicts since have been a little different.

“Perfect strangers would invite us out to eat, they were so appreciative,” Heerspink said. “Any guy in uniform was helped.

“It’s amazing when you think about the war effort that was supported by all the workers at home who built the bombers,” he added. “The country was united. I’m afraid we’ve lost some of that, but World War II was a war we had to win.”

See more portraits of other living World War II veterans in West Michigan: